Even Americans who lived through the duck-and-cover years of the Cold War must wonder every now and again whether we really have any clue at all how close the United States is to a shooting war with a super power at any given moment.

Judging by these amazing videos, released this afternoon by the U.S. European Command, the answer is: about 30 feet, which reportedly is how close a Russian fighter jet was allowed to get yesterday to a U.S. destroyer in the Baltic Sea.

“We have deep concerns about the unsafe and unprofessional Russian flight maneuvers,” European Command said. “These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries, and could result in a miscalculation or accident that could cause serious injury or death. U.S. officials are using existing diplomatic channels to address the interactions, while the incidents are also being reviewed through U.S. Navy channels.”

Military Times said the destroyer’s captain tried to make radio contact with the pilot of the Russian jet, to no avail.

About the blogger

Bob Collins has been with Minnesota Public Radio since 1992, emigrating to Minnesota from Massachusetts. He was senior editor of news in the ’90s, ran MPR’s political unit, created the MPR News regional website, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started several blogs, and every day laments that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.

NewsCut is a blog featuring observations about the news. It provides a forum for an online discussion and debate about events that might not typically make the front page. NewsCut posts are not news stories.